TY - JOUR
T1 - Cancer beliefs and participation in screening for colorectal cancer
T2 - a Danish cohort study based on data from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership and national registers
AU - Hvidberg, Line
AU - Virgilsen, Line Flytkjær
AU - Pedersen, Anette Fischer
AU - Vedsted, Peter
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - Participation in screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) may be affected by general beliefs about cancer and about CRC screening. The aim of this population-based study was to examine prospectively the association between beliefs about cancer and CRC screening and later participation in screening for CRC. We included 1285 individuals who had answered ‘the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) measure’ in 2011 and who had been invited to CRC screening in 2014–2016. The ABC measure includes statements about six general beliefs about cancer and three beliefs about CRC screening. These data were combined with register-based information on CRC screening behaviour, which was obtained from the Danish Colorectal Cancer Screening Database. Multivariate analyses showed that individuals who tended to agree that they would worry about what might be found in the CRC screening (PR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.24–2.23) and individuals who strongly agreed that screening is only necessary if symptoms are present (PR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.05–1.75) were more likely to be non-participants than individuals who strongly disagreed with these beliefs. Included individuals were also more likely to be non-participants if they strongly agreed that they did not want to know about cancer (PR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.09–2.07), whereas those who strongly agreed that screening could reduce their risk of dying from CRC were less likely to be non-participants (PR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49–0.97). This study shows that beliefs about CRC screening and, to a lesser extent, general beliefs about cancer are associated with participation in screening for CRC.
AB - Participation in screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) may be affected by general beliefs about cancer and about CRC screening. The aim of this population-based study was to examine prospectively the association between beliefs about cancer and CRC screening and later participation in screening for CRC. We included 1285 individuals who had answered ‘the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) measure’ in 2011 and who had been invited to CRC screening in 2014–2016. The ABC measure includes statements about six general beliefs about cancer and three beliefs about CRC screening. These data were combined with register-based information on CRC screening behaviour, which was obtained from the Danish Colorectal Cancer Screening Database. Multivariate analyses showed that individuals who tended to agree that they would worry about what might be found in the CRC screening (PR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.24–2.23) and individuals who strongly agreed that screening is only necessary if symptoms are present (PR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.05–1.75) were more likely to be non-participants than individuals who strongly disagreed with these beliefs. Included individuals were also more likely to be non-participants if they strongly agreed that they did not want to know about cancer (PR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.09–2.07), whereas those who strongly agreed that screening could reduce their risk of dying from CRC were less likely to be non-participants (PR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49–0.97). This study shows that beliefs about CRC screening and, to a lesser extent, general beliefs about cancer are associated with participation in screening for CRC.
KW - beliefs
KW - colorectal cancer screening
KW - Denmark
KW - participation
KW - prospective study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061246002&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.01.018
DO - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.01.018
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 30690041
AN - SCOPUS:85061246002
SN - 0091-7435
VL - 121
SP - 11
EP - 17
JO - Preventive Medicine
JF - Preventive Medicine
ER -